Day and Night World Map

The map below shows the current position of the Sun and indicates which parts of the Earth are in day and which are in night.

Map notes

• The day and night parts of the Earth shown are as of Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 01:28:00 UTC.
• The Sun's position is marked with this symbol:. At this location, the Sun will be at its zenith (directly overhead) in relation to an observer.
• The Moon's position is marked with this symbol:. At this location, the Moon will be at its zenith in relation to an observer. Note that the symbol is not showing the current phase of the Moon.
• Different shades of darkness are used to indicate night; these shades are in order from lightest to darkest:
  • Civil Twilight (lightest shade)
  • Nautical Twilight
  • Astronomical Twilight
  • Night, no twilight (darkest)
• Latitude circles
  • NPC – Northern Polar Circle, or Arctic Circle, is at latitude 66°34' N. At locations north of the Arctic Circle, the Sun is visible all day and night during a period before and after the June solstice.
  • NT – Northern Tropic, or Tropic of Cancer, is at latitude 23°26' N and is the northernmost latitude at which the Sun can be directly overhead (this occurs during June solstice, around June 21).
  • ST – Southern Tropic, or Tropic of Capricorn, is at latitude 23°26' S S and is the southernmost latitude at which the Sun can be directly overhead (this occurs during December solstice, around December 21).
  • SPC – Southern Polar Circle, or Antarctic Circle, is at latitude 66°34' S. South of this latitude, the Sun is visible all day and night during summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Map is generated based on images from NASA

Position of the Sun

During the next hour, the Sun's position relative to Earth's surface will move in an westerly direction by 14° 59' 45" longitude and in a southerly direction by 0° 00' 21" latitude.

The average ground speed of the movement is currently 429.86 meters/second, 1547.5 km/hour, 961.6 miles/hour or 835.6 knots.

Locations with the Sun near zenith

Location	Local time	Distance			Direction
Australia - Queensland - Bundaberg	Thu 11:28 AM	438 km	272 miles	237 nm	SW
Australia - Queensland - Hervey Bay	Thu 11:28 AM	439 km	273 miles	237 nm	SW
Australia - Queensland - Rockhampton	Thu 11:28 AM	524 km	326 miles	283 nm	WSW
Australia - Queensland - Sunshine Coast	Thu 11:28 AM	561 km	348 miles	303 nm	SSW
Australia - Queensland - Brisbane	Thu 11:28 AM	643 km	400 miles	347 nm	SSW
Australia - Queensland - Mackay	Thu 11:28 AM	655 km	407 miles	353 nm	W
Australia - Queensland - Gold Coast	Thu 11:28 AM	688 km	427 miles	371 nm	SSW
Australia - Queensland - Toowoomba	Thu 11:28 AM	705 km	438 miles	381 nm	SSW
Australia - New South Wales - Coffs Harbour *	Thu 12:28 PM	938 km	583 miles	507 nm	SSW
Australia - Queensland - Townsville	Thu 11:28 AM	953 km	592 miles	515 nm	WNW

Astronomy calculators

• Seasons Calculator
• Moon Calculator – find times for moonrise, moonset and more
• Moon Phase Calculator – Calculate Moon Phases for any year
• Sunrise Calculator – find times for sunrise, sunset and more

More information

• September Equinox
• December Solstice
• Vernal Equinox
• June Solstice

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